Patio Porkers, Rib King bring the barbecue competition to Beale Street. Here's who won.

Downtown Memphis was hazy Saturday afternoon, with a combination of smoke and overcast skies. Just off Beale Street, people walked in and out of Handy Park and popped over to the various tents where contestants in this year's Patio Porkers competition were cooking.

The Patio Porkers division of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest was dropped this year due to space constraints in the redesigned Tom Lee Park, but that did not stop teams from 15 different tents from competing on the same street where the barbecue competition first began in 1978.

The 2023 edition of Patio Porkers, a sanctioned Kansas City Barbecue Society competition, saw teams face off in a one-day event Saturday in Handy Park to determine the best of the backyard barbecuers, with each team cooking ribs for the judges.

The competition — a joint collaboration between the Downtown Memphis Commission and Beale Street management — featured some first-timers including Brian Calhoun, the one-man team for Weez's Groovin' BBQ, and the GRILLdroids trio, from Costa Rica.

"This is our first time competing here, but we've done competitions in Dallas and Nashville," said Eduardo Violet, one of the members of the GRILLdroids. "I'm looking through the city and there's a lot of history around here, I really like it. Yesterday we went to the Memphis in May competition, and that was great. We ate alligator for the first time, so that was awesome."

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Violet said traveling to different competitions gives the trio different experiences, and forces them to adapt their barbecue style.

"We usually have to adapt to where we are going and participating," he said. "We try to figure out the flavor profile because we have to convince the judges, so it's better to know what they expect than what we give them."

Battle Brothers Que took home the top prize of $1,000 in the Patio Porkers competition. Owned by U.S. Army and Marine Corps veterans, yells and clapping followed the Jackson, Tennessee-based caterer as it received the custom trophy from the Metal Museum.

"It's my first time cooking at Memphis in May, but it's been a longtime dream," co-owner Josh Ford said. "I've got a dad who has judged Memphis in May, I've grown up around the Memphis circuit and I've grown up on Memphis rules. Barbecue is a healing thing for me, so to be able to come to Memphis in May — finally compete in Memphis in May — is a dream come true."

Ford said being in Handy Park, right on Beale Street, made the experience all-the-better, and he hopes to see the event grow.

"To be able to compete on Beale Street — I know they moved it off the river — but to be able to compete on iconic Beale Street? You cannot beat this," he said. "Bring [Patio Porkers] back every year. Get it bigger. Bring in a full backyard contest, add chicken, add turkey — and let's go. Let's frickin' go."

Battle Brothers Que received three perfect scores from the judges, finishing a point above the second-place team, Weez's Groovin' BBQ — which also received three perfect scores, $750 and a custom trophy from the Metal Museum.

Third- through fifth-place finishers also received cash prizes and custom cutting boards with the Patio Porkers logo in the bottom left corner. Rounding out the top five were: Swine Crue in third place, winning $500; Y Don't We Get Drunk & Que in fourth, winning $250; and Curly Tail Smokers in fifth, winning $125.

And the Rib King is ...

Patio Porkers wasn't the only barbecue competition underway Saturday in Handy Park.

Beale Street restaurants were invited to submit a box of ribs to be judged by a panel of celebrity judges — including barbecue aficionados, figureheads of the Memphis community and a member of the Memphis news media — who picked their favorite ribs from a batch of anonymous boxes, naming the first-ever Rib King — identifying the "best restaurant ribs on Beale."

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This year's Rib King was Alfred's On Beale, located at B.B. King and Beale, with cook Kevin Holbrook and Ian Crosno accepting the crown and certificate, respectively.

"Tender love and care," Holbrook said of what makes Alfred's ribs special. "It feels great, it's such a great honor [to get this recognition]."

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis barbecue: Patio Porkers, Rib King contests on Beale Street